Syria condemns deadly Jordanian airstrikes and disputes claims of coordination

Syria has strongly condemned Jordan over cross-border aerial attacks in its southern Daraa province, rejecting Amman's claims that the military operation was coordinated with Syrian authorities. Damascus said the strikes resulted in seven civilian deaths and constituted an unacceptable breach of its airspace.

The aerial bombardment occurred on Monday evening after Jordan accused Islamic State militants based in southern Syria of orchestrating a fatal assault on a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan's Karak province the previous Friday. That incident, in which gunmen opened fire during a funeral service, left nine people dead and 40 wounded.

According to Syrian state news agency SANA, the strikes killed a woman, three children, an elderly man, and two other men. Jordanian public television network Al Mamlaka reported that relatives of a suspect involved in the church shooting, including the suspect's mother and three nephews, were among those killed while residing in a tent close to a targeted location. Funerals for the victims drew large crowds in the Daraa town of Al-Taf.

Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad al-Momani stated on social media that more than 20 Islamic State fighters were eliminated and arms caches were flattened. Momani expressed regret over unintended casualties and maintained that Amman retains deep respect for Syrian sovereignty, though he stressed that Jordan's patience regarding extremist activity along the frontier had run out.

While the Jordanian armed forces asserted that the strikes were executed in coordination with Syrian officials, Damascus flatly rejected that account. The Syrian Foreign Ministry stated that it is engaging with Amman to establish an emergency joint security committee to prevent future airspace breaches and safeguard the shared frontier.

The cross-border action followed the detention of three suspects in Jordan—two brothers and their brother-in-law—whom security forces characterized as followers of takfiri ideology. Jordanian military investigators concluded that the perpetrators had ties to militant networks across the Syrian border, prompting King Abdullah II's vow of forceful retaliation.

Ties between the neighboring countries have experienced periodic strain over illicit trafficking and militant movements, despite bilateral dialogue following the political transition in Damascus in late 2024. Just last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani traveled to Aqaba for high-level talks with King Abdullah. Jordan has previously conducted intermittent airstrikes against narcotics smuggling networks operating in southern Syria, while Damascus reported intercepting hundreds of thousands of illicit pills heading toward Jordan in recent days.